The Catch

In this unimpressive thriller from Farris (Wrongful Termination), Dallas police detectives Ed Hathcox and Ed Barnes look into the murder of Michael Sandford, a plaintiff’s attorney who was tied up by someone who cut out his tongue before coating him with dog food and leaving him within reach of a hungry Rottweiler. The killer left a note on the body with a quote from Luke—“Woe unto you also, ye lawyers!”—that suggests Sandford’s death is part of a series. Sure enough, other victims follow, all lawyers, each killed in a gruesome way that Hathcox and Barnes eventually connect with the punch lines of sadistic anti-attorney jokes. The two cops underwhelm as professionals; at one point, they need to be told by Sandford’s assistant that they have the option of getting a warrant to access his client files. Graphic gore and ponderous prose (“his gnarled knuckles stood out white against his ebony hand, even in the darkness of the night”) don’t help. This is a poor execution of an outlandish plot. (Nov.)